The McMaster Marauders are set to take on the York Lions this Saturday, Aug. 23. Ahead of the matchup, OB.SESSED spoke with Marauders head coach Stefan Ptaszek about his life in football, the keys to building a competitive team, and the state of the program as the 2025 season begins.
Stefan Ptaszek is football royalty. Plain and simple. Throughout a career spent both playing the game and coaching it, which has spanned from the late '80s, Ptaszek has been a constant in the ever-changing landscape of Canadian football. A symbol of passion, love, and reverence for the game; a true ambassador of the sport in his own right.
Ptaszek is a native of Burlington, Ont., and attended local sports juggernaut Nelson High School, where he starred as a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball, and baseball.
In 1989, he helped lead the Lords to the Halton Senior Football Championship before enrolling at Wilfrid Laurier University, where he would embark on a four-year run that would go down in the history books, as he would finish as the Golden Hawks' all-time leading receiver in yardage — a mark of 3,126 that stands to this day.
During this incredible run, Ptaszek was a three-time All-Canadian and in 1991 helped lead the Golden Hawks to their first Vanier Cup title in program history.
Ptaszek's first entry into coaching came at the high school level in the mid-to-late '90s with his former alma mater, Nelson, and as the offensive coordinator at Southwood Secondary School in Cambridge, Ontario.
From there, he became the special teams coordinator at UBC in 2001 before returning to Laurier as their offensive coordinator for three seasons from 2003–2005, where he was a significant part in the Golden Hawks winning two Yates Cups and the 41st Vanier Cup against Saskatchewan in 2005.
In 2006, McMaster came calling. Coach Ptaszek became a head coach for the first time in his career, and from there, brilliance followed. Throughout 10 seasons, Ptaszek led the Marauders to three Yates Cup titles in 2011, 2012, and 2014, and was instrumental in defeating Laval 41-38 in the 47th Vanier Cup in 2011 to obtain McMaster's first national championship.
To this day, the game is widely considered one of the best football games ever played in U SPORTS history.
During his first stint with McMaster from 2011–2012, Ptaszek ushered in a record-breaking fashion of winning that saw the Marauders hold the record for the biggest winning streak in U SPORTS history of 21 games.
Ptaszek receiving the prestigious Frank Tindall Trophy in 2012. Photo: McMaster Marauders
After 2015, Ptaszek joined the Tiger-Cats as their offensive coordinator for three seasons before heading back out west to UBC to be their OC in 2018.
Ptaszek would return to McMaster after 2018 as the head coach again and in 2019, his first year, he led Mac back to a Yates Cup title. Going into the 2025 season, Ptaszek is entering his 16th year as the head coach of the McMaster Marauders after a season that saw them finish 4-4.
Camraderie. To feel it is to experience one of the most addictive feelings that life can offer. It is a staple of tight-knit locker rooms, cliques, and groups that all bond over a shared interest. For Stefan Ptaszek, that feeling was the reason why he wanted to become a football coach.
"The brotherhood of a room is kind of an addicting thing," notes the coach. "When you get into a sweet spot, you're working your butt off, the days are long, but somehow the months and years fly by, and I think that is sort of the career you are looking for."
A coach's life is one of adjustments and preparation, especially in university. There is a constant commitment to staying ahead of opponents and maximizing your chances at championship glory, whether that is through recruiting, game planning, or any other facet of a coach's daily life.
But, when you go through the motions and put your head down, you are not just doing your job well, but you are creating an unforgettable sporting experience for your players as they get to see all that you put in to the day-to-day operations of the team whilst learning new things about what it takes to suceed in sports and life.
"Everybody is a little different, and if you find your passion, you won't have to work a day in your life. Things like that are something that I have learned spending time in a ton of great locker rooms growing up, whether that was with Bob Spacey at Nelson, Gary Jeffries at Wilfrid Laurier, or Rich Newborough. Trying to recreate that feeling for another generation of young football players seemed like a pretty noble thing to do."
Just as it is the case with players, most, if not all, U SPORTS head football coaches, past and present, have had other coaching figures serve as mentors to them at some stage in their careers. These people are instrumental in establishing the foundation of a coaching style and in instilling that initial wave of confidence into a person entering a role that they may not be entirely fluent in.
For Ptaszek, one of those meaningful figures was Jeffries, a former defensive coordinator at Laurier during his playing days and head coach of the Golden Hawks from 2002 to 2012. During that spell, for three years from 2003 to 2005, Ptaszek was Jeffries's offensive coordinator.
Gary Jeffries, head coach of the Laurier Golden Hawks from 2002 to 2012, was an influential figure on Ptaszek in his young coaching career. Photo: Laurier Golden Hawks
"I think at the forefront of what makes [Jeffries] so special is that every decision that he makes is going to be in the best interest of the student-athlete. What is best for himself or what is best for the school is secondary; the student-athletes are always first."
Ptaszek understands that sentiment and its importance to creating a healthy space for players to immerse themselves in.
"Making sure that you create an environment where every decision that is made, micro or macro, is in the best interests of the student-athletes in the program is vital."
Coach Ptaszek has seen more football than most of us can absorb. Throughout an illustrious playing career that spanned from high school to university and then to the pros, to a decorated coaching career, he has also been able to work alongside some great football minds.
"I've been lucky enough to work with some great leaders and some brilliant football people in my life," explains Ptaszek.
"To name some: [Jeffries] is one of the best motivators of a locker room that I have ever seen. Former Tiger-Cats coaches, Kent Austin and June Jones, in the CFL are brilliant offensive minds and see this game at the highest level and understand every nook and cranny of football. Out west, Blake Nill created a wonderful football family and recruited coast to coast and has established a brilliant program at UBC."
It can be said that, along the way, each of these figures served as somewhat of a mentor to Ptaszek as he progressed through his coaching career. By taking bits and pieces from their styles, observing how they operate organizations and programs, and studying the viewpoints from which they know the game, Ptaszek was able to interweave all that he learned from these people into his program at McMaster.
"You can take things from every single one of those individuals and try to apply them to your own organization," said Ptaszek. "I think of all of those people every day and have gladly taken what I have learned from each one of them and used them along the way."
Just like in life, the environments you spend your time in are influential on who you are and what you become. For Coach Ptaszek, this notion was true in nearly every coaching stop of his career and can be noted in all of McMaster's success since his first arrival back in 2006.
As each new football season approaches, teams are in search of their identity. It is a process that all teams go through each year. Identity is important in football because it helps your team understand their strengths and weaknesses. For Coach Ptaszek, the process of unearthing that identity starts immediately in the offseason.
"I think it starts day one for sure," says the Marauder coach. "The fog does lift as you get going, and the young guys prove and show that they are going to be resilient and stick around. It moulds itself. Having enough trust and high-quality character in the room is super essential becuase, once you get to those playoff games, they are 50/50 games and those relationships amongst the players and that identity will help for more of those 50/50 games to fall your way than your opponents' way."
A sizeable part of finding your identity as a team is figuring out how you, as a group, deal with adversity. Adversity is present in all walks of life, and it is no different for football.
It can be argued that no other sport bestows more adversity upon its players and coaches than the game of football does. How you handle that adversity matters, especially at the U SPORTS level, where pressure to perform is at a totally different level than what most players are used to. Helping them navigate that sense of adversity is key to winning games and maintaining an excellent locker-room culture.
"I tell them that the only play that matters is the next one and to never get too high or too low on what just happened. Being steady is a big focus for us," says Ptaszek.
"The other thing about us is that we want to be very internally motivated. We don't hate Guelph, Western, or Queen's, we just have so much respect for each other in our own room. The only thing we have to prove is that we will never let go of this rope to each other, and focus on being committed to the 11 guys in the huddle. Not getting too high or too low or too emotional and getting back to the huddle to focus on the next play are the big ticket items for us in dealing with adversity."
As each season comes and goes, so do players. Some graduate or age out of their eligibility, or some transfer to other schools. New players are brought in, whether by transfer or through a school's recruiting process. Either way, certain position groups will be subject to change after each season, as is the case with the 2025 McMaster Marauders, with quarterback Keagan Hall and wide receiver Nicholas Adair going to York, defensive back DeEmetrius Masuka heading to Guelph, and linebacker Drake Bodi not returning to the program.
Certain position groups will be stronger or weaker than they were the previous year, and it all comes down to the annual wave of change that all programs experience.
Given the amount of change McMaster is going through heading into 2025, it is rather impressive and indicative of his high football IQ that Coach Ptaszek can already envision what will be a strength for them this season.
"I think my secondary with Ethan Stuart and Carter Blad as seniors coming back, combined with young guys like Isaiah Shields and Sean Underhill being ready to be superstars, is going to be a big positive for us," describes Ptaszek.
"That secondary is going to be a pillar for us by making some plays and creating turnovers. It is as talented a group as we have had in a while, and I am looking forward to them factoring into coach Grandy's defence this year."
Leadership in sports is integral to team success. When players know who to look towards in adverse moments for guidance, it is reassuring. Leadership can have profound effects on a team and can spark relentless efforts while staring in the face of victory or defeat.
With key leaders such as Hall and Bodi not returning to Mac in 2025, a leadership void exists in the Marauders team. Nevertheless, Ptaszek remains confident in his offensive line and what their contributions to the team in that leadership capacity can look like this year.
"I think our offensive line is as talented as it has been in several years, but is shockingly young," says the Mac head coach.
"We don't have any fourth or fifth-year guys, so I need some of my third-year guys to step up and be leaders. I have a second-year centre named Adam Woods who is kind of the quarterback of that group. He's got to be a vocal teacher and put everybody in the right spot. I also need some of my third-year players, like Christian Cote, to look out for the first-year students and second-year players and to keep the group on task at the line of scrimmage. That offensive line is better than we have had in a bit, but they are very young, and that leadership piece will be critical."
Last season, McMaster finished the season 4-4 and earned a playoff berth for the first time since 2019, where they took on Western in the OUA quarterfinals in a 46-10 loss.
"Our seniors in 2024 should be very proud of themselves because they taught us how to win those close 50/50 games, and we won a bunch last year," says Coach Ptaszek. "They got us back into the playoffs after we had been out for a couple of years straight, so that was huge."
Despite some of last year's aforementioned players in leadership roles not returning, the 2025 McMaster Marauders are salivating to build on what was accomplished in 2024.
"This crew wants to build on last year's achievements and wants to pick up on it. So, getting back to the playoffs is definitely a goal. Winning enough games where we can host a home playoff game is something that we want to do. Pushing to get to the provincial semifinals and being one game away from the Yates with a shot at getting to the Yates Cup is something we think is very realistic."
Ptaszek believes staying healthy and helping the younger players develop are key, and with the talent on the roster, the team can piece things together as the season unfolds.
"We think the sky is the limit for this team."